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My teaching methods
Essay on the importance of critical pedagogy
My teaching methods
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Teachers as Mentors in Critical Pedagogy
The young world history teacher stood stern and erect before her students. Around the side of her arm she wore a black cloth. "My name is Ms. Aping. When you are responding to me, you will direct me standing up as Ms. Aping, ma’am. You are not to speak unless I request for you to do so. I will teach you what you need to know, and I expect you to learn it well…questions are quite unnecessary. If you fail to abide by my rules you will spend a great deal of your lunchtime with me. Understand?"… An awkward silence followed, then voices raised, "Yes, Ms. Aping, ma’am." My voice was among the reluctant echoes in response to this teacher who was clearly exerting the same right and power of a dictator. I later discovered that my teacher was only executing a realistic performance. The scenario, however, proved quite disturbing as well as revealing. Why was it that not a single student stood up to disagree with the teacher? I doubt any of them felt that her extreme and absurd regulations were right or even permitted, but not one person had the courage to go up and question her style of teaching and authority.
Our educational system, while wanting to educate and strengthen its youths’ minds, has horribly done the opposite through an almost misguided perception of how teachers are supposed to teach. For the majority of our academic learning careers, we have been exposed, to some extent, to the "banking" concept of education described by Paolo Freire. At the youngest age, when we were perhaps considered the most unknowledgeable, we were fed a vast amount of information by our teachers, and were expected to receive and memorize this knowledge and accept it as true. As young elementary school kids, we were taught that Christopher Columbus was the first human being to discover America, only to find out later, that information was not true. These half-true facts, taught to children, are quite acceptable though. It is simple for a child to learn and memorize that Columbus first sailed the ocean blue and founded America for the rest of the world.
On the other hand, much energy is needed and confusion may arise for them to acquire and comprehend the immigration of Native American Indians into America, much before the arrival of Columbus, and the possible voyage of early Vikings from northern Europe to the southern coast of present day Canada.
However, Richter establishes the notion of imagination in the reader’s mind to make up for the amount speculation he uses. Using the scarce amount of sources at his disposal, Richter writes about what likely happened during Euro-Indian contact. A prime example of this is Richter making a connection between European shipwrecks, evidence of nontraditional items in Native communities before European contact, and movement of Indian tribes to coastal areas. The author relies on what is known of Native people during the Mississippian Period, and European accounts of their travels to North America. Lack of primary sources becomes a strong point of the book, allowing Richter to use his historical prowess and imagination to channel an unknown world in Indian
Many books have led children to believe Columbus discovered America. Myint discovers “Leif Eriksson is the first European believed to have sailed to North America, having reached Canada 500 years before Columbus set sail to the west.” (Myint, 2015, Para. 2). Columbus did not plan to reach America; the voyage was to reach Asia. It is also believed Columbus set sail to prove the world was round. This is dismissed by Myint as “it was an idea that had been established by the Ancient Greeks in the 5th Century BC.” (Myint, 2015, Para. 4). Historians fail to provide these facts; this creates a false image of Columbus in a child’s
...h Americans used planes and helicopters to deploy sustained heavy bombardment over Vietnam. During this one operation there were more bombs dropped than in the entire WW2 – 864,000 tonnes in total.
Many people think that Christopher Columbus was the first European to set foot in America, but this conventional belief is wrong; Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer set foot in Newfoundland almost 500 years before Columbus was even born. This paper will cover everything about Leif Erikson’s life including his grandfather’s banishment from Norway, and Leif’s father’s exile from Iceland. Leif Erikson’s early life, his family, and his visit to Norway to serve under the king. The first recorded European to see North America, Bjarni Herjólfsson, and Leif Erikson’s voyage to America. This paper is also going to talk about Leif Erikson’s brother, Thorvald Erikson’s voyage to Vinland because his tale is interesting. Near the end of this research paper, it will have a paragraph on Leif Erikson’s later life. Finally at the end of this paper it is going to talk about the unknown reason why no other Europeans sailed to Vinland, and Leif’s impact on modern day North America.
...ere was even an American air strike against “a convoy of North Vietnamese mobile missiles.” Tran Van Huong replaced Thieu as president, but that was short lived. Duong Van Minh, who was president earlier in the South Vietnamese government, became president of the Republic of Vietnam on April 28th, 1975. Minh’s presidency was short lived too, as he ordered cease-fire on April 30th.
Thomas H. Benton is an English professor who also teaches history. He interacts with countless students that are just beginning their upper-level studies. Of these pupils that he encounters, many of them are rude, disrespectful, and unenergetic about learning: “about half will give me a somewhat confused nod, not quite making eye contact.
Among the many flaws American history textbooks have, one that stands out above the rest is heroification. Heroification is, according to Loewen "A generative process that makes people over into heroes.”(pg.19) Through heroification national heroes such as Christopher Columbus are always portrayed as perfect individuals, with only the best intentions and absolutely no flaws. Textbooks use heroification to inspire, and instate a sense of national pride in students. Though it may instate a sense of national pride in students, it does not present the truth. Heroification leaves out important details of these "heroes" lives, and only presents trivial melodramatic details. By doing this students will never really fully understand why our "heroes" did what they did, and will never know the truth.
Milgram, Stanley. “The Perils of Obedience.” From Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Tenth edition. Edited by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Longman Publishers, pp.358-371, 2008.
To what extent do you consider that you have already started to develop the approaches of a critical practitioner? Analyse and evaluate your progress using examples from your work to illustrate your arguments.
...and walked home.” Collins contrasts the students’ misbehavior with the teacher’s ignorance, thus implying a relationship between the history teacher’s inability to teach his students and their ensuing misbehavior.
...ime of the author rather then accurate historical facts. (Lies?293) Textbooks are being written this way and history is being taught this way to show people how they should act and strive to be. This relays to the student what is deemed acceptable to everyone and what is not. When it comes to a student remembering historical lessons they normally do not remember what is being taught to them unless they are moved by it. (Lies?301) So what is the result to a society where our students are being taught this way? The number one result is that students do not know the true history of their country nor do they remember what they were taught in class. This is a sad conclusion but Mr. Loewen feels it is an accurate one given responses to questions he has asked his students throughout the years. What can we do to change this and reeducate the people out there? Sadly I feel nothing can be done for those of us out there who are not truly aware of this misinformed way of teaching. But, our children need not be sheltered from our true history, rather they should learn all that has happened so we can prevent the atrocities from reoccurring again.
US C-130 aircraft operating from Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base flew 2,602 missions and
Harris, Christopher. “New York Fashion Week: The Numbers and Economic Benefits behind the World’s Biggest Fashion Show.” IB Times. N.P., 6 September 2013. Web. 11 October 2013
The ability to reflect critically on one’s experience, integrate knowledge gained from experience with knowledge possessed, and take action on insights is considered by some adult educators to be a distinguishing feature of the adult learner (Brookfield 1998; Ecclestone 1996; Mezirow 1991). Critical reflection is the process by which adults identify the assumptions governing their actions, locate the historical and cultural origins of the assumptions, question the meaning of the assumptions, and develop alternative ways of acting (Cranton 1996). Brookfield (1995) adds that part of the critical reflective process is to challenge the prevailing social, political, cultural, or professional ways of acting. Through the process of critical reflection, adults come to interpret and create new knowledge and actions from their ordinary and sometimes extraordinary experiences. Critical reflection blends learning through experience with theoretical and technical learning to form new knowledge constructions and new behaviors or insights.
I believe that teaching is one of the most important careers that one can have, granted that there are many more jobs that come to mind that have more importance, but they all started with education. Without education society is left with nothing. Although, teaching isn’t just about giving the students the information, it is about building critical thinking, communication, showing their creative side and having them to embrace the information in order to achieve higher standards. I think that education is truly the foundation.